Utility admits plan hasty on fire-risk power shut-off

San Diego Gas & Electric doesn't have the authority to shut off power to its customers when dry, windy weather heightens the risk of fire, say lawyers for schools and water districts that would be affected.

Michael Shames, head of the watchdog group Utility Consumers' Action Network, agrees. “They can't do that,” he said.

At issue is the California Public Utilities Commission's Rule 14, which spells out the conditions under which SDG&E can stop providing power.

“We read Rule 14, and we didn't find this in there,” said Michael Cowett, a lawyer who helped draft a lawsuit in which three water districts are asking a judge to prevent SDG&E from implementing its shut-off plans. The utility said a shut-off could help prevent fires that can occur if high winds knock down power lines.

Although SDG&E says it has the authority to order a shut-off, it is seeking a change in the rule.

“We have the ability right now to turn off power to our system,” spokeswoman Christy Heiser said. She said she couldn't point to particular PUC wording that gives the utility that authority.

The existing rule says SDG&E will do its best – “exercise reasonable diligence” – to deliver electricity.

The change adds language that SDG&E “does not guarantee” customers will receive enough electricity and allows it to interrupt power when SDG&E decides safety or emergency reasons require it.

The PUC didn't answer questions about the effect of Rule 14 on SDG&E's shut-off plan.

Company officials say the decision this week to suspend the controversial plan to shut off power to as many as 45,000 customers in one-third of the county is temporary.

When fire officials have issued a red-flag warning and it's dry and windy, the utility still wants to shut off electricity to keep its power lines from sparking a conflagration.

The company may do so as early as next week, said Michael Niggli, chief operating officer for Sempra Utilities, SDG&E's corporate parent.

Niggli said the program will be implemented once all those in the possible shut-off areas who rely on electric medical equipment know they can't count on continuous power and schools and water agencies have secured alternate power sources or made plans to send children home.

Meeting with the managers of the county's water districts yesterday, Niggli apologized and admitted the plan was pushed through too quickly.

“We haven't done enough to meet with you,” he said.

Other SDG&E executives said the same thing in a conference call with the county's school superintendents.

School officials and water executives oppose the plan and are asking the PUC not to approve the rule change the power company is seeking. They say the existing Rule 14 prevents SDG&E from flipping off the power.

“We understand the health and safety issues underlying SDG&E's request to shut down power distribution in high risk fire areas in the county,” Randolph Ward, the county's superintendent of schools, wrote in a protest letter. “However we cannot support the unilateral shutdown of power to our schools.”